


Finding out Felicity is a badass  with a past

by KK1986



Series: Felicity's Past [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-18 23:20:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4724021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KK1986/pseuds/KK1986
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity and Oliver have just finally committed to each other, and all seems right in the world.  Unfortunately a face from Felicity's past is forcing Team Arrow and Oliver to see her in a new light.  She always hid her past and tried to forget, but they will all see that Felicity is no meek little mouse, but a warrior in her own right- fighting to protect Starling City from her own enemy.</p><p> </p><p>HIATUS- sorry. Just wanted to say it officially because I suck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Past comes back to Haunt Her

**Author's Note:**

> So I am trying something a little new, and so all comments are welcomed! My warning is that there is mention of violence and electroshock for torture, but nothing too graphic (that will be the WORST it will ever get I promise....it may be mentioned in later chapters but no other violent acts will occur!) PLEASE let me know if you wish for me to continue or scrap this story!
> 
> This is sooooo NOT cannon and DARK, and I'm playing with the timelines oh so much. Basically I'm combining The Tockman and The Count for Felicity's enemy in that the guy is crazy but also crazy good with technology. I came up with story to showcase a Felicity equivalent to Slade, and to question how much does Team Arrow actually know Felicity Smoak? They all see her as such a sweet innocent (granted she hacks into so many government agencies) but overall goody-to-shoes kind of woman. What would happen if they found out her past wasn't so clean-cut, and that she is not weak but incredibly strong emotionally and psychologically after dealing with her own "island"

Oliver and Felicity had been steadily dating for the past 2 weeks- ever since the last undercover mission had Oliver forced to deal with all of Felicity’s ex’s- including Bruce Wayne. Oliver had been jealous of all the men, but after seeing Bruce Wayne, apparently he was an ex multiple times over and still Felicity’s friend, it had pushed Oliver to action. For the most part their being together didn’t truly affect the team, except for the odd heated looks, more touching and all the team members had caught Felicity and Oliver kissing at least twice in the Foundry. It was great that both of them were embracing their feelings, and though there were still fights, it was nothing that was different from all the past fights they have had.

“God the heart eyes are much worse!” Roy fake complained to Sara, even though he was very happy. Roy, Digg and Oliver had come back from patrol early due to the slow night, and Sara always came down during her break from being a bartender at the club. They all saw as Oliver sped over to Felicity the second he got to the Foundry, and put his hand on her shoulder while kissing the top of her head.

“Well what did you expect?” Digg answered with a smirk. He was truly happy that both his friends were finally together, and that he wasn’t required to have them locked in a closet. 

Each team member though made sure to threaten Oliver to never break Felicity’s heart with his stupidity again, including Sara who wanted to look out for her best friend/ “sister.” Overall, the team seemed to be even more at peace with everyone making some form of relationship away from the mission, Oliver/Felicity, Roy/Thea, Digg/Lyla, and Sara began reconnecting with Laurel and her dad. It also helped that Oliver and Tommy were able to mend fences and so there were no more lies in their small family circle, and even when big bads were raising hell in The Glades, Team Arrow was able to stop them without losing a part of themselves in the process. 

Since it was a slow night (and Sara wasn’t needed for the rest of the night according to Thea) all patrolling members of Team Arrow were feeling antsy with their excess energy. So that led to sparring with Digg and Sara vs. Oliver and Roy. Felicity was frankly just enjoying the show, and was shamelessly drooling over Oliver, and when Sara landed a great hit on Oliver, Felicity had cheered.

“Felicity! As my girlfriend you are supposed to be cheering FOR me not AGAINST me,” Oliver chuckled as it was so cute when Felicity cheered on the team.

“What? That means I can’t cheer on the rest of the team? Besides, I’m really just providing motivation for you to stay on top…..I meant as in top dog or top of the food chain….so by cheering on Digg and Sara that means you have to work harder to be on top…BETTER to be BETTER is what I’m trying to say….shutting up in 3…2…1” Felicity was turning red and had literally mashed her lips together in an effort to shut up. Oliver merely gave her a heated look that said “I’ll ALWAYS be on top” but that held great amusement to her babble.

Roy, Digg, and Sara were cracking up at Felicity turning red, and Roy actually had tears in his eyes. 

“Damn Blondie! Don’t make me laugh so hard, you might make me tear a stitch” Roy wheezed while laughing.

“Roy I thought you said you were okay to spar?” Felicity questioned sharply and that stopped Roy’s laughing real quick.

“Awww come on! Digg, Sara, and Oliver still train even when they get hurt!” Roy realized he sounded like a whiny teenager who is arguing with his mom, and secretly he loved it that Felicity always cared so much about his wellbeing. 

“Yeah a stitch is nothing. Try training with a broken rib now THAT’S hard!” Sara exclaimed while punching Roy’s shoulder.

Then Digg, Roy, Oliver and Sara began comparing their scars and battle stories of how hurt they were but still either fighting or training. Oliver always was glancing over at Felicity (how could he not now that she was his girlfriend, he thought) and noticed how Felicity’s face had a dark expression when Sara brought up having to fight after a male League member had beaten her body black and blue. 

“Hey Felicity it’s okay. I ended up alive…see?” Sara had seen Felicity’s expression and went over to give her a hug. “Hey. What’s the worst you ever got physically hurt?” Sara asked happily since she wanted to include Felicity. Though Sara had been tempted to start something with Oliver, she knew that she could never compare to the relationship that he had with Felicity, and Sara found herself in this weird family where her best friend was dating her ex. Sara viewed Felicity like a sister, and she knew that Felicity viewed her exactly the same. 

“I know! Probably carpal tunnel from hacking?” Roy shouted out to the amusement of the team.

“Oooo did you have to bleach your mind after seeing all the porn on computers you had to fix?” Digg offered with a chuckle as they all were laughing a bit. Felicity smiled as she remembered a moment where it was her and Digg at Big Belly Burger, and Felicity was saying that majority of the IT complaints at QC had been virus related due to porn. 

Felicity was smiling and laughing, but Oliver picked up on relief flashing through her face that she didn’t really have to answer. The team had moved onto a different body comparison, and Felicity blew out a breath and looked sad briefly. Oliver looked at her with a frown and confusion, because what was that about? They hadn’t really talked too much about her past, but the look she gave meant that something had happened.

“So Felicity what was yours?” Roy asked.

“What?” Felicity jumped as she had been lost in thought and obviously had checked out during their talk.

“Earth to Blondie! We asked….” Roy stopped as Felicity’s alerts on her computer began going off.

“Does this have to do with the lead for the tech guy that is hacking into banks and stealing money?” Oliver asked, but saw that Felicity had turned pale. Everyone instantly went on alert as what was on Felicity’s computer was her facial recognition software, and it was showcasing four men that were currently standing in line to get into Verdant.

“Felicity what…..” Oliver didn’t even get to finish his statement as Felicity grabbed her bag and ran for the bathroom. The team all stared at each other, and looked at the alert and saw that all four men had criminal history, with one having been convicted for hacking, kidnapping, and an attempted murder charge. Before the team could read more, Felicity was running out of the bathroom in what looked like clubbing attire. She always kept a bag in case she needed to be seen at the club, and so she wore leather capris pants, a shiny dark green top, and short stiletto heels. Her hair was still in a ponytail, her glasses and makeup were unchanged, but she seemed as if she was in a rush to get to the club. 

“Hey Felicity!” Oliver yelled, and Felicity momentarily stopped to look at the team.

“No time!! How did he get here without me knowing before? Gotta go,” Felicity rushed and talked to herself while picking up a comm and shoving it into her ear.

“Hey hey hey,” Digg was blocking the entrance to the stairs, and Felicity frantically saw the team slowly come to her to find out what was happening.

“Felicity?” Roy asked.

“LET ME THROUGH NOW!” Felicity used her Loud Voice causing the team to wince, and she was able to slip past Digg. Halfway up the steps she looked at her giant monitors to see that the men were still in line, but almost into Verdant.

“Should I call my dad?” Sara asked and was clearly worried for her friend.

“NO! I have to go. I have to do this. Forgive me for not telling you all everything, but he’ll hurt….oh my god HE’S the one stealing money from banks. Dammit why didn’t I see the pattern, only he would be able to pull off that form of simultaneous hack. I REALLY have to go, but I’ll be back!” Felicity ran up the steps, while the team rushed to get dressed in order to follow her into Verdant.

“Felicity! What can I do ya for?” Tommy asked with a smile as he was bartending at the moment, but his smile fell when he saw the panic on Felicity’s face.

“I need to get on stage with the DJ. Like now!” Felicity begged.

“Ummm….why? What’s going on?” Tommy stopped to talk to her, but she threw her hands up in frustration at Tommy’s confusion and ran to Thea.

“Thea.” Felicity was now slightly out of breath due to running in heels and trying to regulate her breathing from an oncoming panic attack.

“What’s wrong Felicity?” Thea was concerned.

“I need to get on stage with your DJ now. PLEASE! I’ll need a microphone too.” Felicity saw Thea confused at Felicity’s desperation to be on stage, but at seeing her friend, her brother’s reason to smile again, looking panicky it spurred her into action.

“Go. I’ll text him it’s alright and there’s an extra microphone hidden underneath where he sits.” 

“Thank you!” And with that Felicity looked around and took deep breaths to calm herself down. She needed to be cool and calm for this to work, and couldn’t’ appear weak.

“Felicity what is going on? Why would you appear weak?” Oliver asked through comms and his confusion and need to protect Felicity had his anxiety amped up that everyone could hear it.

“Yeah what’s wrong Blondie? What do those four men have to do with you on stage?” Roy asked, and Felicity could hear clothing hastily being put on.

Felicity ignored them and there echoing questions while she walked up to the DJ. He smiled at her and had written that he got Thea’s text. (It was very loud after all.) Felicity wrote down that she was going to sing “Evacuate the Dance Floor” but that she would tell him when. The DJ looked nervous as this wasn’t a karaoke kind of club; Felicity picked up on it and wrote that if she sucked then he can cut off her mic calling her drunk. That seemed to make the DJ happy, because he didn’t want to get blamed if Felicity ended up being bad.

Felicity saw as Team Arrow was all huddled by the bar, and she saw Oliver giving Tommy and Thea comms as well.

“Felicity what the HELL is going on?” Oliver growled.

“Promise me that no matter what you hear or see that you do NOT attack those four men. Promise me. Right now they don’t know about Team Arrow, and unfortunately I’m about to put myself in the spotlight....metaphorically speaking since if it was literal I wouldn’t be able to see what is going on. But PLEASE I’ll explain later, but NO TOUCHING THEM!” Felicity was able to yell the last part as it was so loud no one without a comm would be able to hear her.

“Felicity!” Oliver was frustrated and then they saw Felicity stiffen on stage as the four men finally got past the bouncers and entered the club. They all watched as they made their way to the bar, and the one that seemed to be the leader, a lanky version of tall, dark and handsome, started to flirt with a girl near Team Arrow while the three other men got drinks from Tommy.

The team was close enough that Felicity was able to hear the man tell the girl “so. What is a pretty thing like you doing here? Wanna get out of here?”

“Brian….” Felicity whispered. “No no no…NOT going to happen.”

The team saw as Felicity tapped the DJ who stopped the music mid-track. It caused all club goers to look up at the DJ and see Felicity take the stage. Oliver was next to “Brian” while Roy was ‘helping’ Tommy at the bar with Digg towards the door and Thea in front of the men- in case they rush the stage. Felicity looked like a completely different person, Oliver thought, she looks like a star or just sassy yet confident person….she looked badass. Oliver saw when Brian recognized Felicity, and Brian began a small evil smile. He tilted his drink up and nodded to her as she began to sing, and if looks could kill he would be dead from Oliver’s glare. The girl Brian had been hitting on walked away as all of his attention shifted to the stage, and the three men that were with Brian could be heard talking about Felicity.

“Hey isn’t that?” one guy asked while the two other men nodded. Then all three men smiled evilly while looking to their leader. 

Felicity and Brian were locked in a staring contest, and Felicity for all intents and purposes was killing it on stage. She owned it with her sexy moves and voice. At one point the DJ jumped in and began to sing a male cameo part which made the club nuts, and to the outsider, it looked like Felicity helped get the club goes even more hyper versus making some sort of message to the leader.

“She making a statement right now,” Oliver murmured and Digg nodded his head in agreement. The team stayed off of comms to help not distract Felicity, as she had seemed like a nervous wreck (hard to imagine that while seeing her on stage) and didn’t want to break her concentration. Once the song ended, Felicity walked off the stage with a sway of her hips and to the crowds loud cheers and whistles. Felicity slowly made her way to the bar and went right next to Brian.

“Whiskey,” Felicity told Roy who then gave her a tumbler half filled with whiskey. 

“Well well well. What have we here?” Brian said in a creepy voice that was meant to be mysterious and seductive.

“A crappy cheesy pick up line?” Felicity quipped back, and the team couldn’t help but stare as this was so anti-Felicity. The quips, the swaying of hips, the laugh, and just all her behavior was like when Oliver would pretend to be Ollie….it was all fake.

“If it isn’t Oracle herself. There was talk of a white hat protecting Starling City, but I should have known. Here I thought you had…..retired.” Brian stressed the last word as if he meant something else.

“Starling City is under MY protection,” Felicity said coolly but with a tone that was similar to the Arrow Voice.

“Oh? Are you with the crazy Robin Hood?” Brian looked amused and unconcerned by Felicity.

Felicity took a sip of her whiskey, and gave her own sly smile. “Awww don’t think. You aren’t that pretty to say idiotic things. If you heard there was a white hat you would know that I was active years earlier than the stupid man dressed all in green prancing around roof tops. Though….he did give me cover if you didn’t even know about my activities.” Felicity gave a fake laugh that caused Brian to show a rage filled face at being called beneath her in terms of intelligence.

“Well. I LIKE Starling but I’ll leave as soon as I get one little thing…..” Brian said sweetly as if she was a child.

Felicity’s face turned murderous. “I SAID Starling is under my protection and domain. You are only getting one chance to take yourself and muscle dumbasses 1-3 the hell out of MY city. If not….well you remember what happened last time someone threatened something under my protection.” Felicity casually sipped her whiskey.

“I remember it being worth it. But I’d be careful of threats- after all Cooper won’t be here to save you the next time Felicity.” Brian stroked her arm softly up and down.

Oliver saw red and Felicity could see that he was getting ready to charge at Brian. Luckily she caught his gaze in the mirror while taking another sip of whiskey and gave him a hard look causing him to take a step back away.

Felicity then fake laughed as if Brian had said the funniest thing in the world, causing Brian to smile that he thought Felicity was covering up her panic. However, then Felicity stopped and gave Brian a look that would have made Isabel, the queen of all bitches, bow down at Felicity’s face and tone.

“It’s cute you think that Cooper SAVED me.” She then tilted her head to the side as she saw Brian begin to work out whatever she was saying. “This is why you always lose. (Pointing to herself) Genius. So many people underestimate me, they think I’m sweet, innocent, naïve and unassuming, and that’s why they never realize before it’s too late. You don’t MESS with ME. You think you got me that day? HAHA! How do you think Cooper… I mean COOPER the idiot wonder that only knew and was good at only one type of coding, and the POLICE were able to find my location? Did you really think all this time that Cooper somehow saved me? I DON’T require saving, since I always save myself.” She took another drink as the team saw (through the mirrored wall) how Brian looked pissed. Felicity just sipped again and then gave an evil smile to rival The Evil Queen herself- “Now listen. Starling City is under my protection, and I’m being a gracious host to allow you to leave intact. You even SKIM through a server in this city, and I will bring a digital hell upon you. After all I did it once before…..” Felicity shrugged her shoulders as Brian leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“And YOU forget….I always get MY way and what I WANT. It will be fun reminding you of that again, and even though you won that round…..at least I got my fun in,” Brian started to touch her face which she slapped away. “Listen you BITCH…”

Felicity cut him off. “Fun fact. I set up the surveillance system to this club, and what do you know. There was facial recognition software attached and I have it so the cameras follow you. Did I also mention that the Captain of the Police Department views me as part of his family….whoops guess no ‘having fun’ for you.” Felicity even gave a little wave to all the cameras.

“You don’t tell me what to do…” Brian began but he did take a step back, and with one last look he and his lackeys left.

Felicity waited until Brian and his men were out of the club, and ignored Oliver as he went up and asked her what that was all about. Instead Felicity walked fast to the Foundry, with the team following right behind. 

“Okay what the hell was that about. No Felicity you have to tell us NOW” Oliver demanded while holding her elbow to stop her movements.

“NO! There is NO time at the moment. Get out of camera shot, and be quiet. We will need help, and I don’t want them to find out about the Arrow!” Felicity attempted to push Oliver out of the way, but the man was twice her body weight and practically all muscle- so he didn’t even move an inch.

“Fe-li-ci-ty. Talk to me” Oliver asked in his soft voice, because he could tell she was scared. Also his mind was going to all sorts of dark places based off of the conversation she had with Brian. 

“I’ll talk to you after. PLEASE! Brian is GOOD and he will have a team. If I want to help this city I need to do this now. We need help….don’t look at me like that. I won’t mention Team Arrow but you all have to be quiet and not do anything. Go over there” Felicity pointing towards the workbench, which was next to the stairs. Sara was the one to gently push Digg, while Thea pulled on Oliver to all be near the stairs, away from the cameras. Felicity took deep breaths, and from their hiding spot, the team could see the giant monitor being split into four squares. Soon a person was filled with each square.

“Is she really skyping right now?” Thea whispered really quietly while Roy just shrugged with a helpless look.

In total there were two men and two women, each filling a square and each looked nervously at Felicity. 

“What’s going on? Why are you calling US?” said one girl.

“Because every single one of you OWES me. Brian has returned and he threatened MY city. I gave him a chance and told him it was under my protection. I need to guarantee that the city is safe meaning I need people protecting banking systems, emergency responder systems, basically everything digital in Starling City’s infrastructure. I want Brian to be unable to hack into even a mall’s security program.” Felicity finished.

“Brian? Man. Look yes I owe you, but that is too big of an area to be protecting!” one guy seemed nervous to even be questioning this.

“There was talk of a hacker going into banking systems, but since my order of protection, Brian will most likely attempt to do the most damage he can. I need the city safe while I take him down.” Oliver and Digg had matching frowns on their faces.

“Look Felicity…..” the other girl started but Felicity gave her a death glare that shut up the girl.

“LISTEN. You WILL do this. Call in your own favors if you have to, but Starling City is to be protected at all costs! He will be starting his campaign soon, and so this needs to start right now. And you have NO RIGHT to say my name. Try again….” Felicity gave a dark sarcastic smile that had the other girl visibly afraid.

“What you are asking for is impossible Oracle!” the last man finally yelled out.

“Impossible? You want to know what is impossible? How about a wonderful link to all your friends, family, coworkers, community members of that weekend?” Felicity snapped.

“You don’t have that!? It got erased…..oh no” the first girl spoke and soon all the people who Felicity was skyping got a resigned look on their face.

“Oh YES. I DO have it. I wanted to give you all the chance to clear your own conscious. To do it willingly, but it looks like that isn’t going to happen. So let me tell you how this will go. You WILL call in your own favors to help protect Starling while I go after Brian. If you don’t then I will release ALL video evidence to everyone in your life. Doubt me? Well let me tell you a little secret, right now I’m not Felicity and I’m not Oracle….my name is Hera.” With that everyone on screen paled at the name even more so than when Felicity threatened to release the video.

Oliver was already anxious and worried, but not he was downright scared of who this woman that looked like his girlfriend really was. 

“He…Hera. That was you?” One man asked while all Felicity did was giving a chilling smile while nodding her head. In short she appeared like a badass warrior that no one was to mess with.

“Tell me are you up on your Greek Mythology? Because if you DON’T do this, I will make all of those legends pale in comparison to MY wrath. I’ll give you one hour to decide, but that is all you get. Either start getting your resources ready, or start explaining to your family what they will see…..and I will ensure that they see this.” Before Felicity cut off communication, a fifth window popped up showcasing Felicity being electroshocked while tied to a chair. Her screams bounced off the walls, and Brian would stop the electricity only to demand she tell him how to undo her virus. Felicity was shown to spit in his face, and then Brian slapped her hard to make the chair lean slightly and then he punched her stomach. In the video it could also be seen those four people working away on computers doing Brian’s bidding, and though they gave sympathetic looks, no one moved to stop Brian or help Felicity.

“You know my demands. Do something good for once in your pathetic lives and maybe you will die with a clear conscious. IF this is done correctly, they your debt to me is fulfilled and done. I expect a message within one hour,” and with that Felicity cut off communications while the four people on screen still looked pale, scared, and now ashamed. 

As soon as the screen went to black, Felicity turned to see the rest of the team staring at her as if she was a pod person. In that moment they were forced to see another part of Felicity’s identity. She was not just a cute, innocent IT nerd that all of them thought, not even an hour ago they were poking fun at her getting into any real bad situation. To see her on the video so defiant and righteous in the face of pain, and at the club as well as during the video call, she was confident, self-assured, and the epitome of being a badass. At the moment, she was equal to how tough and aggressive the Arrow, Arsenal and Canary are in their daily patrols, and for once the team was confronted with this dark side to Felicity….finally seeing her for the first time besides their ideal version.


	2. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Felicity's strange behaviors that happened after meeting Brian, an ex-friend and ex-hacktivist from her college group, Felicity must tell Team Arrow what her past entails. Never have any of them imagined the horror Felicity had faced, or that she also has more than one identity. Felicity fears what will happen once she explains who she was, and the question is- will her past change who she is in the eyes of Team Arrow, her family or Oliver, the love of her life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like this! I own up to all horribleness with plot, grammar, etc. This chapter is more of a set-up for the next chapter. Hope you all have fun reading!

Felicity took a deep breath, and Oliver saw that as she released it she became “his” once again. The Felicity that the team had seen prior to her on stage spectacle was back, and she seemed ready to crumble. It was like now that she had dealt with Brian and those four people she called, the stress began to hit her, it reminded Oliver when it was like the trauma or emotions would always catch up to him after the traumatic event. Instead of asking questions, Oliver just went to a tearful Felicity and hugged her as she cried. The whole team (including Tommy and Roy since they just came down) had tears in their eyes, still re-living Felicity beaten and electrocuted while being tied to a steel chair. When her breathing calmed down, she took a step back always so her face wasn’t pressed into Oliver’s chest. She took another deep breath as if to prepare herself for what’s to come. Interlocking their fingers, Oliver and Felicity faced the team holding hands, both needing the physical re-assurance of the other. For Felicity, it reminded her to fight and that Oliver always made her feel safe- a feeling she desperately needed in that moment. After seeing the video and hearing Felicity talk to Brian, Oliver just needed tangible proof that Felicity was with him and safe.

“So….you all probably have questions and I’ll try my best to answer everything. Though before we begin, I think the whole team should be here.” Felicity then looked at Tommy, “Can you call Laurel? I want her to know as well, besides I might need her expertise with legal options.”

Tommy called Laurel and in hushed tones he told her to get to the Foundry- that it was about Felicity. Laurel had been on her way anyways, since she was able to leave early and wanted to see Tommy, so she was walking down before Tommy ended the call. Sara quickly filled her in, and Laurel started to look at Felicity with sadness.

“Okay. We don’t have much time, because I challenged Brian, and he always hated that I survived. Okay I’ll try to get this out all in one shot, so please don’t ask questions till the end or I might not be able to finish.” Felicity saw the team nod their heads and Felicity let go of Oliver’s hand in order to pace back and forth in front of her team, her friends, and her family that may be destroyed for simply knowing her.

“Hey I thought that was my line?” Oliver said softly earning a small smile from Felicity who realized she said the last part out loud.

“Before I get into Brian, I need to give you all some context. While at MIT, I met a group of talented hackers like me, we became friends and formed a team- we called ourselves hacktivists. Using our combined skills, we helped expose corrupt people in power and organizations.” Felicity took this brief moment to stop and give a nervous smile to her team, “I guess you could say I wanted to help people even then.”

The whole team smiled and everyone gave a soft chuckle. Because OF COURSE Felicity had been helping people long before Oliver ever went to the IT department with a bullet-ridden laptop, and a terrible lie regarding a coffee shop in a bad neighborhood.

“The team consisted of Cooper, his roommate, me and Brian. After about 6 months, Brian started to talk about organizations that would be too dangerous to go after. He wanted to go after everything from The Triad to The Federal Reserve. After a while, Cooper’s roommate had left for a job offer in Florida, and suddenly it became me vs. Cooper and Brian. Cooper was growing more and more hateful and wanted to lash out. I should have left then, but I loved Cooper and though of Brian as family. They also needed me since I was better than both of them, but their beliefs began to turn so so dark. A few years back, before our hacktivist family was formed, I was bored and created a virus. As my skills evolved, so did my….super virus. Stupid name I admit but hey- it seemed to fit the bill at the time. I created it as a mental exercise and as a challenge to myself- PLEASE please BELIEVE me when I say that I NEVER meant for it to get out. It was never supposed to be used.” Felicity’s voice began breaking, and tears started to fall. Felicity at that point couldn’t bring herself to look at the team in fear of judgement and condemnation.

“Cooper grew angry at MIT for denying him a scholarship he claims was stolen from him. Brian convinced Cooper that they….WE….should hack into Financial Aid and erase all student debt. I thought they were trying to be noble and help other scholarship or low-income students. So I deluded myself that they were trying to be good men, instead of greedy and only caring about stealing money from the school which included- teacher salaries, pensions, just everything needed to keep the school running. So I told them I wouldn’t help them, it was too great a risk to get caught, too obvious, and we might screw up and destroy MIT’s entire financial system.”

“When I refused, I NEVER saw them that angry before, and Brian slapped me while Cooper stopped it from getting worse. I got scared for my safety and left. Next thing I know, Cooper stole my super virus, but he didn’t know that I created a failsafe in case it was ever stolen. Instead of the virus destroying MIT’s financial systems and stealing all that money, my virus turned on Cooper and Brian- wiping and destroying all their data, servers, software, frying computers….just everything they had worked so hard for was being destroyed bit by bit. Brian and Cooper ambushed me at my apartment, with both wanting to know how to stop the virus from completely destroying their systems. Cooper meant to hack into my computer to find out how the virus was created, but Brian’s plans had been to beat me into submission. To his credit, Cooper HAD tried to stop Brian, but Brian shoved Cooper hard against a wall that ended up knocking him out.”

Felicity begins to tear up more and hugs herself as if to shelter her from the memories. Shudders could be seen racking her body as she was reliving all of those experiences. The team could do nothing but silently wait, because though each wanted to hug and comfort her, they didn’t want to trigger anything to make his worse for Felicity.

“Brian punched me hard when I tried to get away and once on the floor he kicked me multiple times knocking me out,” Oliver at this point is feeling so much rage but also a helplessness that he can’t seem to shake. This happened long before he met Felicity, but the thought of ANYONE trying to dim her light makes him want to break his promise to Tommy. Though after glancing at Tommy, Oliver is pretty sure that not only would Tommy NOT mind it, he may in fact encourage Oliver to break the promise.

“When I came to….I was strapped to a steel chair and hooked up with electrodes all over my body. There were four people there that I had seen from my classes, and I remembered Cooper and Brian, during one of our fights, that they had found others who shared their vision. The four had been trying to stop my virus’s progression in destroying Brian’s systems, but they couldn’t really do anything to stop it. In the beginning they just stared at me with hate in their eyes, because my virus had beaten them and their egos couldn’t handle it. Then Brian began to torture me through electroshocking me multiple times a day, sometimes multiple times every hour of the day. Sometimes it would be my whole body, and other times he would switch to shocking different sections of my body in an effort to break me into submission. He had sleep deprived me and the others did absolutely nothing.”

Felicity frowned as if THAT was what had bothered her most out of the whole experience. The fact that these people did nothing to help her in any way.

“I continued to refuse Brian, as most of you guys saw on the video, and towards the end I saw the others look at me with sympathy- but it was all meaningless. Together they could have freed me, but they just avoided me instead. Never looking at me or acknowledging my screams and pain. After 3 days, I pretended to break for Brian, and I said that I would help recover all that was lost due to my virus. I lied saying that the virus automatically makes a copy of all the data it destroys. Brian had thought that I was weak and compliant at that point, so he allowed me to use a computer to stop the virus and reverse the damage. Instead I sent out messages to Cooper and the police to find me. They saved me 3 hours later.”

Felicity briefly stops her pacing and Oliver knows that she is coming to the end of her story. He knows from her expression there is more that she needs to tell the team and him, but all he can think about is that his mind is on a loop of Felicity in pain and screaming while being tortured by Brian.

“I warned the four people to leave. I told them that I would erase the video and all trace that they were there- but that they would owe me, and that I WOULD collect in the future. I saw the sympathy and regret in their eyes, so I gave them a second chance. Afterward I went from goth to blonde, determined to live life to the fullest but also a dark side had been born- Hera. She was the name that I took when I sent the police all the evidence needed for a conviction, but I also sent evidence for our prior hacking crimes to hostile countries not known for keeping prisoners alive- I made sure that they were calling for Brian’s blood. When I heard Brian was released on bail, I became consumed with stopping him at all cost, including purposefully hacking into the Triad and leading them straight to Brian. I….I…set Brian up to take the blame for hacking the Triad. The last I had heard, the police were called for a disturbance, and found what looked like a struggle at his place, and that there was blood everywhere. I became this completely different person, when I was ‘Hera’; I was ruthless and powerful in my attempts to stop what I perceived to be as cruelty against others.”

Felicity’s tears had now dried and her voice started to become more strong, more confident, and more aggressive. It was as if the team could see the walls she was building, to shield her from what she was expecting to happen next.

“As ‘Oracle,’ I’m the one who can hack into anything without leaving a trace, but that I never do anything cruel or harmful to innocents. I help PROTECT. As ‘Hera,’ I’m the vengeance and destruction that occurs when someone hurts, or tries to, something that was under my protection or any wrongdoing against innocents. I would justify that I was defending the innocent but PUNSIHING the guilty. I haven’t had to be Hera for quite some time, and I never wanted to go back to her, because who I was when I was ‘Hera’ was someone who only saw the bad in others. Normally, the name will strike fear in anyone from this world, but no one knew that Oracle and Hera were the same person. Me.”

Felicity stopped and looked at the team with such heartache. Oliver’s eyes widened when he realized Felicity had thought they would reject her, or view her as a monster. His suspicion was proved true when Felicity began to bite her bottom lip, play with the hem of her shirt, and subtly take a mini step back- away from the team. She was preparing herself for the team, her family as she’s told Oliver many times, to be disgusted by her past actions and hold them against her. Before Felicity could blink, Oliver had her in a death grip of a hug while stroking the back of her spine with his hand in a soothing pattern. 

He could feel her trembling, and he thinks back to past conversations in which her greatest fear is people leaving her. Oliver still is swaying her back and forth, but he drops his head and says so low for only her ears, “I love you. This doesn’t change a thing, and now I just know you are more remarkable that I ever thought. I’m proud of you Felicity Smoak, and I am still completely in love with you-maybe even more so.” Felicity’s trembling got worse as Oliver had whispered in her ear, but then she looked up with unshed tears in her eyes and kissed him. When Oliver finally released her, the rest of the team each hugged her and said their own words of support and that they believe in Felicity. 

“So Blondie….please tell me he” Roy nodded his head to Oliver “isn’t rubbing off on you the whole third person talking bit- because yeah that’s still creepy even if it’s YOU that’s doing it” Roy quipped. Felicity flashed Roy and the rest of the team a genuine smile, her first one since the whole thing began. 

“So what do we do?” Sara asked while putting her arm around Felicity’s shoulders, giving her a side hug.

Felicity paused and looked at her team. They were her family and she would never see them harmed. This family was built on a mission to protect Starling City from corrupt influences, and that is what she will do, except not on her own like last time- this time she has them. Felicity looked at her crazy dysfunctional family and could feel their support and love, which in turn helped Felicity feel stronger and more self-assured than ever before. Reinforced by new found confidence, Felicity realized that in order to save Starling City and her family, she would have to become something other than Oracle or Hera, she would need to become more.... a combination of the two- which would become a force like no other.

Felicity gave a small smile and had fire in her eyes, “We fight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make me sooooo happy!

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE comment if you like it or hate it. I won't be offended I swear! If many of you hate this or feel it's too dark, then I will delete it, because I would never want to publish anything that would hurt another person or something that was just bad.


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